Unseen Embers
by The Deathman's Overlord
Summary: Three Stories, or be they one, of a legend foretold to a region that has long since been forgotten. Ignatius Osmond is a lonely boy who, in spite of his name, prefers hiding in the shadows to being in the spot light. Will he rise up to his full potential, or will the darkness swallow him whole?


_Date: March 25_

Deep purple eyes were glued to the screen of his Rotom Phone, taking in every pixel worth of information as he watched. This was it, the last match between Raihan, the Dragon Master, and Leon, the Unbeatable Champion, before the start of the new season. Both trainers, now 21 years old, had been rivals for the last decade. Apparently, the two of them had started the same year, and had met in the Semi-Finals their first year. Leon went on to not only beat his rival, but the Gym leaders he had been up against, and Malcolm, the Champion that had stayed on the throne for five years before Leon obliterated him.

The fights, from the videos at least, were brutal, but after Malcolm crowed Leon the new Champion of Galar, the old man had disappeared. Of course, all of Leon's fights were ferocious, but that first one, the one where he had first proven his strength, was one of the most violent fights he had ever seen.

Which made Leon's battle against Raihan particularly sad. It wasn't that the gym leader was weak, far from it, but he didn't provoke that same passion that Malcolm did. Personally, Ignatius hoped that this would be the year that someone was able to actually challenge the Unbeatable Champion. After all, Leon's brother, Hop, was starting on his journey this year.

Everyone in both Postwick and Wedgehurst knew that Hop's greatest ambition was to beat his brother and take his title from him. However, the chances of that happening, especially since Hop hadn't bothered expanding his team since he got his starter a month ago, were extremely slim.

Then again, who was he to talk? He had gotten his own starter on his birthday last week and still hadn't caught a second Pokémon yet. Then again, that had more to do with the fact that Tighearna, his Impidimp, was so tiny that he was afraid that he might hurt the Pokémon if he sent it into a battle.

Tighearna, or just Tiernan, tugged at his hair from his perch the back of the couch, forcing his attention back to the video in front of him.

Izzy couldn't stop himself from cringing as Raihan's Duraludon took a direct hit from Leon's Charizard. It didn't help that both Pokémon had been Gigantamax, making the attack even more brutal. "Its not gonna take another attack." Izzy muttered, making Tiernan snicker on his shoulder.

If he didn't know any better, he would say that his tiny Impidimp was enjoying watching the beating, for what else could you call it. To be fair, Tiernan was very mischievous and loved causing chaos and havoc. Being a dark type, and a fairy type, it was expected honestly. He still wasn't entirely certain as to what his parents were thinking when they had chosen this Pokémon to be his starter, but he wasn't complaining.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Leon was being declared the winner, again. Izzy shook his head and couldn't stop himself from scoffing. The sad part was Leon's Pokémon weren't even trying to win. They weren't trying to lose either, but there was no fire, no panic, and no sheer need that had been obvious in the earlier matches.

He could hear the roaring of a crowd through his phone, as if the entire region had been on the edge of their seats the entire time. He closed the video player and leaned back with a small sigh. The noise was giving him a headache.

To his surprise, the noise didn't go away, not completely, and the sound of someone rushing through his front door told him why.

Hop.

Of course, the younger brother of the Champion would be especially excited, seeing as this was Leon's official tenth year as the Champion. An entire decade of Leon's life had been spent waiting for someone better to come along. He hid a shudder. That sounded absolutely miserable to him.

Sure, he wanted to get to the Rose Cup Finals, but he didn't want to stay the Champion for longer than perhaps two years. At most. If he didn't make it, then he would be fine with that as well. He did want to spend a few years as a trainer, but he wasn't interested in battling for the rest of his life.

A blur jumped over the couch and landed heavily in his lap with an 'oomph'. It took less than a second to recognize the purple hair that had a slightly curled texture, caramel skin, blue jean jacketed form that had decided to jump on him. Laughing golden eyes glanced up at him, making him sigh again.

He shoved the other boy off of him, ignoring the sound of Tighearna and Hop's Wooloo laughing at him. "Was that really necessary?" Izzy asked blandly. It wasn't like this was the first time that Hop had jumped on him, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time either.

Hop's head nodded wildly as he sat up from the floor. "Lee's coming back!"

Well duh. That had been all that Hop had been talking about for weeks, even though it would most likely be a short visit. There was something to be said for the overly excitable younger brother of Leon, and how much he idolized their Champion. "I know. You've told me." A dozen times. "What I don't know is why that means you decided to come here. I thought you were picking up Leon from Wedgehurst."

"I am." Hop told him, peering at him with a small smirk on his face, "and so are you."

Izzy blanched. "No, I'm not. We've talked about this, Hop. The last thing Champion Leon needs is yet another person following him around. He's worked hard the last few weeks, give him some time to relax before you start throwing people at him."

They had a weird relationship. According to Hop, Izzy was his best friend. However, Izzy disagreed heavily. He tolerated Hop, mostly because the other boy wouldn't leave him alone, but he wouldn't really call them friends. He had told the other boy several hundred times that no, he didn't want to hang out, no he didn't want to go to his house, and no, he didn't want Hop to jump (hop, tackle, whatever you wanted to call it) on him.

Izzy wasn't the most social kid in the world, he was more quiet than any of the other boys in Postwick, or Wedgehurst for that matter. He spent most of his time watching and observing. He enjoyed going into the Slumbering Weald, even if he knew he wasn't supposed to. Yet, it was so easy to climb over the old wooden fence that blocked off the area from the rest of Postwick. He was careful never to go more than a few feet into the fog, knowing that he was unwelcome here. It didn't matter though, he was always careful, and no one had yet to find his secret hide out.

"Come on, Izzy! Please, please, please, please? You know Lee wont mind." Golden, laughing eyes turned to pleading puppy dog eyes that would make most people give in within seconds.

Luckily, he wasn't most people. "No. Now, go, you're going to be late. You know that Champion Leon will get lost if you aren't there."

Hop shook his head. "I'm not going until you promise to, at least, come by tonight. Mom's making barbeque, and you know she already invited your parents. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but I really want to introduce you to Lee. I know you two would get along."

Tighearna was laughing at him again. He could hear the snickering that his Pokémon wasn't even trying to hide. They all knew that he would go, if only to get Hop to leave now. He held back a sigh but inclined his head slightly. For now, he would corporate. But that wouldn't last forever.

Hop beamed at him, before bouncing out the door, calling for his Wooloo as he left. They both knew that once he had agreed to something, he wouldn't back out, even if he really wanted to.

Izzy leaned further into the couch, pushing his glasses, silver frames in a rectangular shape that didn't stand out too much on his face, up so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. He gave in too easily to the other boy, and frankly, couldn't wait until he left so that he wouldn't have to put up with a pouting Hop every few days.

Tiernan had fallen from his perch, and all he could hear were the snickers of his friend. Forcing himself up, he glanced to the floor with a frown. "You're supposed to stop him from doing that." Izzy scolded lightly, feeling heat rush on his cheeks.

The only response he got was the change from snickering to actual laughing at his expense.

"Little jerk." Izzy told his Pokémon as he bent down and scooped up the little Pokémon and held him carefully. He ran a hand over Tighearna's head, carefully messing up the electric blue fur that made up the majority of his coloring. Where most Impidimp were pink with a blackish mask around their eyes, his was blue with a silvery white mask. It was frustrating to admit that his coloring, as well as his size, made Izzy want to use him in a wild battle. He was almost two inches shorter than an average Impidimp, and the blue coloring made him look even more fragile.

The Pokémon just played dead in his hands, sticking out his tongue and crossing his hands on his chest, like he had seen in a movie that his boy had watched. Drama king, Izzy thought fondly. He had known letting the Pokémon watch horror movies with him wasn't the best idea, but apparently, it had just given the small Pokémon the idea of playing dead.

To be fair, Hop's Wooloo was just double the size of his Impidimp, and Hop seemed hesitant to battle with him as well. It was so hard to remember that, eventually, Tiernan a would be bigger, reaching around five feet tall. Besides, Tiernan wasn't breakable, and the Pokémon could, in fact, battle if he wanted to.

A part of him wanted to Hop's house with a full team of Pokémon. It wasn't like it would be difficult to do so, especially with the amount of Pokémon that resided around the area, but he was hesitant. He didn't want to just catch any Pokémon. He was, well, picky. He was picky with the clothes he wore, usually all black with silver accents if he could find them. He was picky about how long he wanted his hair, just grazing the tops of his shoulders, no lower. He was even picky about his starter. While technically, he hadn't had any input on what his parents had surprised him with, he knew they had looked around for a while before deciding on the strangely colored Impidimp.

To be fair, he couldn't have imagined having a Pokémon other than Tiernan as his starter. He was extremely grateful to have the tiny prankster as his first Pokémon, and he was surprised at how well they worked together. They were bonding fairly well, so far at least, but he could tell that Tiernan was bored, and that the smaller Pokémon wanted to go out and have his own battles, instead of just watching other people.

With a sigh, he changed his course from his bedroom to the front door. It wasn't like anything near Postwick would be strong enough to actually cause any kind of permanent damage to his Pokémon, especially since it was spring, and most of the Pokémon over here had just hatched.

As soon as Tiernan realized where they were going, all attempts at playing dead were suddenly gone. The Pokémon hopped up on his shoulder, black eyes sparkling. It was time that they had their first fight. It just wasn't possible for Izzy to fully trust Tiernan to protect them until he had a chance to see what the Pokémon could really do. He wasn't going to catch a second Pokémon just yet. He knew all of his options around here, and he wasn't really interested in any of them. Sure, having a Zigzagoon, or a Rookidee, or a Blipbug would be interesting, but they weren't really interesting enough for him to want to train up.

The warm sunlight shined in his face. He grimaced and pulled his beanie out from his pocket. It was a simple thing, pure black, and it didn't have a bill like most of the more popular hats did. By itself, it wouldn't do anything, but thankfully, within a few seconds, his glasses darkened. He paused mid-step, glancing around, just to make sure that Hop was nowhere to be seen. The last thing he wanted to do was be dragged to Wedgehurst today. He really didn't want to deal with a crowd, especially the insane one that was sure to be following the Champion all around Wedgehurst.

Honestly, he never understood those people who would obsessively track and follow celebrities. He couldn't imagine caring enough about a stranger to actually want to know what they were doing every hour of every day. Appreciating someone for the work they did was one thing, but stalking them? No, he couldn't even pretend to understand that one.

He walked down the front steps and considered the path to take. If he went right, he would pass Hop's house and head towards route one, where he could find some small Pokémon that he was sure his Tiernan could beat. If he went left…

If he went left, he could reach the Slumbering Weald, and as long as he stayed close to the fence, the Pokémon wouldn't be too strong.

He felt a shiver go through his bones at the thought. Something in the Slumbering Weald did not want him there, and it was never afraid to show it. Something had judged him and found him unworthy, but that was alright, he expected it, and it made things more interesting. The Weald didn't want to hurt him, per say, it just never welcomed him. Though, funny enough, he was the only person that actually spent any time there, so he wasn't sure if the Slumbering Weald didn't like anyone, if he was feeling something that didn't exist, or if he was being picky.

Nibbling on his bottom lip, he made up his mind. He wanted to avoid any chance of being watched for his first battle, and the only way to ensure that was to make sure he went somewhere that not many, if any, people went.

He went left.

He was sure, as he climbed carefully over the wooden gate, that there would be something weak enough for Tiernan to beat.

As soon as they passed the barrier, even if it was a pathetic one, a familiar shiver went down his spine. Tiernan jumped down off of his shoulder and seemed rather… distracted by something. The Pokémon laughed, and sped off towards the grass.

Izzy rolled his eyes, but followed behind his crazy starter. He knew that Tiernan would find a Pokémon to bother, even if he really should have been more cautious than to run off by himself.

Sure enough, the Pokémon had found something, a Grubbin, and had started tormenting the poor bug by sending a bite attack at it. It wasn't a very strong attack, considering it didn't even have the start of the black glow that it should have. The Grubbin apparently, wasn't having it, and tried to grip his Impidimp in a vice. That wasn't enough to distract Tiernan, though.

His Pokémon was apparently completely content letting the bug get close, before trying out his bite attack again. While this battle was nowhere near the level of Leon's, there was something that made it even better. Tiernan was evenly matched against the Grubbin, and the battle could go either way. Both Pokémon seemed extremely happy with the fight, even if neither of them was strong enough to do the other any true damage. There was a glint in Tiernan's eyes that he hadn't seen in Leon's Pokémon, but that didn't mean there wasn't a matching glint in the Grubbin's eyes. In fact, he was almost convinced that the bug's blue eyes were even more excited than the Impidimp's.

As they fought, Izzy felt himself relaxing slightly. They wouldn't cause each other any permanent damage. His tiny Pokémon was holding its own, even if the Pokémon was only a little bigger. He was surprisingly grateful to the Grubbin, and slid a hand to his belt. He had a single spare Pokéball right now, which had been more than he thought he would need. Still, he was tempted, very tempted, to catch the bug.

He nibbled on his bottom lip as he watched them. Honestly, he had never considered getting a bug type, but it could grow into a surprisingly useful Pokémon with enough time and effort. Bug's always grew quicker than practically any other, and it would be a surprise that he could use against people. Very few serious trainers, minus bug catchers, used them competitively.

Most importantly, though, it would mean that Tiernan would have a Pokémon to spar with, though he wasn't sure how long the two would be considering themselves rivals. Still, was it worth it, catching the very first Pokémon he came across?

He tapped his finger on the center of the Pokéball and primed it, waiting until he had a clear shot at the Pokémon. He doubted that Grubbin would be a part of his main team, not once he had completed it, but it could be a powerful backup.

When he had a clear shot, he threw the Pokéball, apparently taking the Grubbin by surprise if its squeal was anything to go by. He ignored Tiernan's incredulous looks, and focused his gaze on the Pokéball, which was still shaking.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Four times.

Snick.

He sauntered over to the Pokéball and picked it up with a slight grin on his face. "Looks like we have a teammate." He told Tiernan easily as he snapped the Pokéball into place.

Tiernan shot towards him, using his speed and power to take his usual place on Izzy's shoulder, before yanking at his boy's hair roughly. He hadn't wanted that annoying bug as a teammate. He wanted to prove to his trainer that he was stronger than it, not have to put up with it for the rest of their lives!

Izzy smirked, but kept his head straight. "You were the one who decided to battle the Grubbin. Its your fault that it caught my interest in the first place. If it had been anything else, I would have just ignored it, but we both know how useful they can be."

The Pokémon glared darkly, before jumping down and heading towards the gate once again. Tiernan didn't dare think about fighting anything else in case he ended up with yet another useless partner. As the Impidimp made his way to the entrance of the woods, he suddenly perked up. True, having a second Pokémon meant that he was going to have to share the boys attention, but it also meant that he would have someone else to play pranks on, someone that, to his delight, wouldn't know his usual tricks.

Tiernan cackled contently, forgiving his boy for getting another vict- ehem, partner Pokémon. This was going to be very good indeed.


End file.
